Bandar Seri Begawan (The Brunei Times/ANN) - Makan Ceria Sdn Bhd, the franchise holder of McDonald's in Brunei, said the temporary closure of the only outlet of the fastfood chain in Brunei was for the convenience of its clientele.
Marzuki Hamid, public relations and sales and marketing coordinator of Makan Ceria Sdn Bhd, said the renovation work on the 19-year-old shop were going to be so extensive that it was impossible to keep it partly open while upgrading work was ongoing.
The store closed yesterday ahead of the renovation work and will remain shuttered until October 26.
The renovation work will expand the area of the McDonald's outlet to three floors from the current two.
Asked about how much business would be lost due to the closure, Marzuki said that information was confidential but that the management hoped that once McDonald's reopened it would be able to make up for the lost sales during the upgrade. "For us, of course, profit is the objective, but we want to serve the customers better and we hope that we can do this by renovating our establishment properly," he said.
Asked if he thought the establishment expectedto fill the three floors with customers once it reopened and whether it could make up for the loss of business during the downtime, Marzuki said that the management "does not do projections like that".
Marzuki was likewise noncommittal when asked about the shop's employees and whether the workforce would be expanded following the reopening of the store. That information is "confidential", he said.
He did say, though, that upon reopening, the McDonald's outlet in Gadong would have three doors instead of the current two, and that other aspects of the "new McDonald's" would be revealed during the opening ceremony.
He also said the reopening of the store would be in conjunction with the franchise's 19 years of service in Brunei. Marzuki noted that there was a growing demand for the brand, but said he could not reveal whether there were plans to open more establishments in other districts or other parts of Brunei-Muara district.
